Before this past Saturday, Francis Ngannou had not competed in an MMA contest since January 2022 when he defeated Ciryl Gane in his first defense of the UFC heavyweight championship. Since that time, much has happened in his life inside and outside of the sport.
The Cameroonian left the UFC after his contract expired and he was unable to negotiate a new deal, ultimately signing with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) in May of last year. He earned a hefty amount of money in two highly profitable boxing matches, first against former undefeated heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and then against Anthony Joshua. He lost both, but Ngannou suffered his biggest loss nearly six months ago, when his 15-month-old son, Kobe, died due to a brain malformation.
Going into his match Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, against 6-foot, 8-inch Brazilian Renan Ferreira, there were questions about whether the 6-foot, 4-inch Ngannou still had the skills and focused mental state to dominate against top competition after 33 months off from MMA action. However, Ngannou left no questions unanswered as he defeated Ferreira by knockout in under 4 minutes of the first round to become the first-ever PFL Super Fights heavyweight champion.
After the win, Ngannou was asked about the death of his son. He took a deep breath and said, “They have been telling me that I’m tough to the point that I get to believe that I’m tough and then I recently just found out that I wasn’t tough. Life can let you take advantage and think you are running away, and then it hits you really bad from the front and then it’s something that I never imagined.”
Ngannou said the mourning period will be a lifetime.
“I think it’s one of those things that you kind of ask yourself, ‘Is this going to ever be over?’ And you think it might never be over. You just may as well learn how to live with it. It’s a new life and a new way of living that I have to learn.”
The match that the entire MMA world wants to see is Ngannou against UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who will make his first title defense at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden on November 16 against former two-time champion Stipe Miocic (20-4-0). Like Ngannou, neither Jones nor Miocic have competed in quite some time: Jones won the championship in March 2023, while Miocic has not fought since March 2021, when he lost the title to Ngannou. However, with both Ngannou and Jones signing new contracts last year with the PFL and UFC respectively, a battle between them may not take place for several years.